Dear Twilight,
I hope that you are well and continue to accustom yourself to the new circumstances as well as you have done since the ceremony. I am well aware of the challenge these changes pose, but I do not doubt you will overcome these challenges same as you have overcome every challenge and test you faced so far.
Perhaps you would be interested in a little task that may be less of a challenge but more of a delight for the inquisitive student as whom I have always known you and whose thirst for knowledge, I am sure, will never be limited through a title or a pair of wings.
During a recent audience an aspiring postgraduate student from Fillydelphia by the name of Frank Blanket requested access to the Royal Library of Canterlot for a research project. I could not help feeling reminded of you by the enthusiasm he showed when talking about his multiple fields of interest and research. The main focus of his research is the study of cutie marks. It is not without a degree of surprise that I realized how little academic and scientific attention has so far been given to a subject so significant in the lives of ponies. Even the Royal Library seems to yield little new insights.
Having taken interest in his studies and therefore visiting him a couple of times in the library I had to admit that even I, with more time than anypony else in this library since the days of Starswirl the Bearded, couldn't think of a single particularly insightful volume on the subject of cutie marks. Most of what has been put on paper on the subject are huge registers listing tens of thousands of cutie marks and their interpretation, but little beyond that. While Mr. Blanket seems too cautiously deferential to suggest so, I was under the impression that he was disappointed by the slim results which his intensive search in the library brought forth so far.
I thought that perhaps Mr. Blanket would take interest in the experiences related to cutie marks which you and your friends made so recently. Ponyville may also be a good place for in the field studies more auspicious than the book based ones in the library turned out to be.
Would you be interested and do you have the time to answer what questions Mr. Blanket may have? If so I would recommend him to visit you in Ponyville.
Yours truly
Princess Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia,
of course I am interested. I don't recall having come across a lot on the subject of cutie marks in books so far and if this student is going to change that I will do what I can to help with his project. I also recall several other incidents, including a case of cutie pox, here in Ponyville that may be of interest to Mr. Blanket. I am going to ask my friends if they too could answer Mr. Blanket's questions in case he would like to interview them too.
Your faithfu
Yours truly
Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
I thought you would be interested. You will find Mr. Blanket to be a pleasant and eloquent student, if perhaps with some quirks often associated with scholarly ponies.
Twilight Sparkle looked up from the princess' letter raising her eyebrows and wondering if her former teacher had meant for the last sentence to be a little quip at her expense. Either way she smiled and continued to read.
Mr. Blanket was most delighted when I made the suggestion and told him that you agreed to answer questions for his cutie mark studies. He will arrive tomorrow morning.
Yours truly
Princess Celestia
Twilight looked up, blinked once and read the last sentence a second time to make sure she hadn't misread, slightly hoping that she had. Sure enough the letter announced the arrival of this Mr. Blanket for the very next morning.
Twilight whirled away from her desk and hurried upstairs. Of course she had meant her earlier invitation and her professed interest in the subject had been everything but a mere courtesy, but she hadn't expected for the visitor to arrive in a matter of hours! She hadn't even found the time to live up to her promise to ask her friends about whether or not they would want to answer the questions of this Mr. Blanket.
She had to ask everyone of them right now, she would have to make sure that the library was in perfect order to receive the visitor, she had to send a letter to the Princess confirming that everything would be fine or even... she shuddered at the thought ...ask for a little postponement of Mr. Blanket's arrival.
She hurried for the little cot in which Spike had fallen asleep again after he had been roused much to his chagrin by the arrival of Princess Celestia's second letter a few minutes before. Twilight was about to give him the second rude awakening of the night when she suddenly stopped in motion, took a deep breath, looked down on Spike and suddenly felt very silly. She smiled and wondered if this had been just the kind of 'quirks' which Celestia had been referring to in her letter, whether intentional or not. So what if she would have to ask her friends early in the morning or even in the company of Mr. Blanket? The worst that could happen would be some of them would not have the time or be in the mood to answer his questions, so what? By the sound of Celestia's reference to 'field studies' he was going to stay more than just a few hours anyway so... where was he going to stay?
Feeling the beginning of yet another quirky sense of panic Twilight sternly called herself to order reminding herself that this was not her problem and that she wouldn't help Mr. Blanket, or Celestia and least of all herself by getting all worked up now.
"Princesses are not to act quirky!" she told herself. She still felt a bit uneasy about thinking of herself as a princess, but getting a little more relaxed when there was no real need to worry would be a good thing, princess or not. With a deep sigh Twilight walked over to her bed to settle down for the night, deliberately trying to keep her mind from any quirkiness-inducing thoughts.